[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 50 (Monday, December 13, 2004)]
[Pages 2911-2912]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

December 4, 2004

    Good morning. Since the attacks of September the 11th, 2001, 
American military forces, intelligence officers, and law enforcement 
officials have defended our country with skill and honor and have taken 
the fight to terrorists abroad. Here at home, we have created the 
Department of Homeland Security, strengthened our defenses, and improved 
the collection and analysis of vital intelligence. Yet we must do more.
    To protect America, our country needs the best possible 
intelligence. The recommendations of the 9/11 Commission chart a clear, 
sensible path toward needed reforms to our Government's intelligence 
capabilities. I strongly support most of those recommendations, and my 
administration is already implementing the vast majority of those that 
can be enacted without a vote of Congress. In August, I established the 
National Counterterrorism Center, where all the available intelligence 
on terrorist threats is brought together in one place. Just last month, 
I issued two directives instructing the FBI and CIA to hire new 
personnel and to press forward with the transformation of these agencies 
to meet the threats of our time.
    But other key changes require new laws. For the past few months, I 
have been working with the Congress to produce an intelligence reform 
bill that will make America more secure. Congress made good progress 
toward a strong new law. Provisions have

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been included to strengthen our ability to arrest those who aid and 
train terrorists, to hold dangerous terrorists who are awaiting trial, 
and to prosecute those who seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
    The most important provisions of any new bill must create a strong, 
focused new management structure for our intelligence services and break 
down the remaining walls that prevent the timely sharing of vital threat 
information among Federal agencies and with relevant State, local, and 
private sector personnel. Our intelligence efforts need a Director of 
National Intelligence who will oversee all of the foreign and domestic 
activities of the intelligence community. The legislation I support 
preserves the existing chain of command and leaves America's 15 
intelligence agencies, organizations, and offices in their current 
Departments. Yet the Director of National Intelligence will oversee all 
of America's intelligence efforts to help ensure that our Government can 
find and stop terrorists before they strike. To be effective, this 
position must have full budget authority over our intelligence agencies. 
The many elements of our intelligence community must function 
seamlessly, with an overriding mission to protect America from attack by 
terrorists or outlaw regimes.
    I will continue to work with the Congress to reach an agreement on 
this intelligence bill. I urge Members of Congress to act next week so I 
can sign these needed reforms into law.
    We have made great progress against the terrorists who seek to harm 
our Nation. We are safer, but we are not yet safe. The enemy is still 
plotting, and America must respond with urgency. We must do everything 
necessary to confront and defeat the terrorist threat, and that includes 
intelligence reform. By remaining focused and determined in these 
efforts, we will strengthen the safety of our citizens and defend our 
Nation from harm.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 7:50 a.m. on December 3 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on December 4. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
December 3 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his 
remarks, the President referred to the National Commission on Terrorist 
Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission). The Office of the 
Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this 
address.